2 Killed In Executive Airport Crash

Two people were killed Thursday night when a twin-engine Aerostar crashed at Orlando Executive Airport shortly after takeoff.

The identities of the man and woman aboard were withheld until relatives could be notified.

The plane was about 35 to 45 feet off the ground when it flipped and crashed, said Irv Dominy, director of general aviation.

No distress signal was received before air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane at 9:35 p.m., he said.

''They just disappeared from the radar,'' Dominy said.

Dominy said the plane, with its landing gear still down, broke into several pieces on impact. The front end was crushed like a ''car that collided head-on with a tree,'' he said.

There was no fire after the crash but a small amount of fuel spilled, said Terri Philips, Orlando Fire Department spokeswoman. Sixteen fire department units, along with the Orlando Police Department, arrived at the scene.

The plane was based in Miami and was heading for Marathon.

Airport crews immediately were dispatched to the east end of the 1,110-acre airport, believing the plane went down in Lake Barton. When they realized it was not there, the crews turned around and headed toward the terminal.

The plane was found about 10:15 p.m., on a remote runway south of the Colonial Promenade shopping center on East Colonial Drive.

Dominy said crews were hampered by darkness and the size of the airport. He also said there was nothing visual, such as a fire, to help them locate the plane.

He said he doesn't think anyone witnessed the crash and added that traffic from Colonial Drive probably muffled any sounds.

Authorities do not know what caused the plane to crash or whether it was attempting an emergency landing. Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were on the scene early today.

Dominy, who said flying conditions were good, did not believe the crash was weather-related.

The last fatal crash at the airport was Nov. 5, 1986, when a pilot for Church Street Station was killed as he tried to pick up a banner. The 1975 Grumann Ag-Cat crashed on takeoff into a hangar under construction near Crystal Lake Drive and Jefferson Street.